Repair poorly fitted baseboards

Hello. I recently bought a house and would like to do some "polishing work" on the white painted baseboards. The walls have bullnose corners, and the previous owner cut and installed the baseboards, but they don't match up nicely at the seams. Would it be a good idea to fill any small gaps with wood filler or paintable caulk? I will try to post some pictures later today when I'm home.

Repair poorly fitted baseboards

Thanks for the replies. Here are a few pictures. Some will probably have to be removed and reattached, if not buying more boards and replacing. I'm new to this though, so I doubt mine will look a lot better. But I'm persistent and would rather do one perfect thing in a day, than 10 hack jobs in a day.

Repair poorly fitted baseboards

[QUOTE=Drizzt;624943]Some will probably have to be removed and reattached, if not buying more boards and replacing.

If you buy new baseboard, one issue you will have is making that outside corner curved around the bullnose corner.

With some patience and the right products, you can bring the existing trim to an acceptable level.

If you can get the top edge of all the baseboard to line up, it will immediately look better.

The mis-cut gaps can be filled with a restoration wood filler or Bondo.

Use small files, rasps and sandpaper to blend the lines the of the molding profiles together.
Blending in your patches will be your biggest challenge but if you take your time and do it right, it can be your biggest payoff.

Repair poorly fitted baseboards

Some will probably have to be removed and reattached, if not buying more boards and replacing.

If you buy new baseboard, one issue you will have is making that outside corner curved around the bullnose corner.

With some patience and the right products, you can bring the existing trim to an acceptable level.

If you can get the top edge of all the baseboard to line up, it will immediately look better.

The mis-cut gaps can be filled with a restoration wood filler or Bondo.

Use small files, rasps and sandpaper to blend the lines the of the molding profiles together. Blending in your patches will be your biggest challenge but if you take your time and do it right, it can be your biggest payoff.

I have a painter buddy that's a magician with that stuff.

This is one of the biggest reasons to stay away from using caulking. Caulking will not sand. It rolls off in flaky strips and sheets. When you try to sand caulk, it becomes a real mess.

You need to use only 'hardening' products that you can sand, file and shape their surfaces because sometimes getting molding to line up perfectly just isn't going to happen. In those cases you are going to have to"blend" one profile into another one that is a little off. You will often have to mold this patch out over a stretch of at least three or four inches to make the differences seem to disappear.

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"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
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Willie T

Repair poorly fitted baseboards

Would you see products that harden eventually crack from house stresses, or does this not generally appear in something like baseboard patching? I would imagine that it would be best to use the hardening/sandable products on the faces to get things to blend, and a caulk to fill in the wall bow gaps that you see at the top of the baseboards.
I'm looking forward to working on this and seeing what I can do. Do you recommend any particular products that you like to work with for something like this?

Repair poorly fitted baseboards

Yes, most anything is going to show some cracking if the house settles and if a particular area happens to be in the zone that moves. Using vinylized spackling compound helps some. And yes to caulking along the wall edges... that's what it's for. But don't use a wet cloth to smooth the caulking. That actually seems to increase the likelihood of cracking... just wet your finger a little and rub it smooth.

__________________
"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Willie T

Repair poorly fitted baseboards

As an update, I've removed, sanded, filled, filed, cut down, painted.. etc... the problem baseboards, and.... They look better. Not as good as I was hoping after all the work it took, but definatly better. They still require a 2nd coat of paint, and the walls have to be repainted, especially since I decresed the height of the baseboards over the hardwood transitions so they matched up better. But end result, here are a few pictures:

Repair poorly fitted baseboards

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drizzt

As an update, I've removed, sanded, filled, filed, cut down, painted.. etc... the problem baseboards, and.... They look better. Not as good as I was hoping after all the work it took, but definatly better. They still require a 2nd coat of paint, and the walls have to be repainted, especially since I decresed the height of the baseboards over the hardwood transitions so they matched up better. But end result, here are a few pictures:

Thanks again for any input you provided when I asked.

Wow - that is an AMAZING improvement over what you started with! Good job!